


Umino Unraveled

by Kakushigo



Series: Cascade [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, Not tagging Character death, Time Travel Fix-It, because they do get better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-04-18
Packaged: 2018-10-20 10:18:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10660506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kakushigo/pseuds/Kakushigo
Summary: In the end, the Akatsuki won.  Though Iruka isn't quite sure how 'the whole world is on the brink of destruction' counts as winning.  He challenges the Juubi (if sitting in its path and waiting for death counts as challenging) and sets in motion events to save the universe.





	Umino Unraveled

Most major and minor ninja clans have secret techniques. Even the Umino clan, which could hardly be considered a clan,  had their secrets.  They had migrated in from the Land of Water many years ago with their family jutsus.  Most of them weren’t even ninja, preferring mercantile pursuits.  Among those who did choose to become ninja, most never really bothered to go beyond chunin, preferring to stay close to home.  So their family jutsus were merely memorized but not truly used.  

Iruka had followed in his family’s footsteps.  He’d become a chunin quite young, spurred on by the death of his parents at the hands of the Kyuubi, but he’d found that he enjoyed being an instructor at the Academy, and so didn’t bother with the jounin exams.  The children he taught, they needed the skills.  They had only lived in peace time and they didn’t know the horrors of war. They would soon, since every ninja faced death at some time.  They had to graduate at the academy, pass their jounin sensei's exam, and then complete many missions in their life as a ninja.  It was Iruka’s job to make sure they survived.

A lot of people considered Iruka to be a hardass. His graduation numbers were the lowest of all classes,  but those that did graduate became well known.  The Rookie 9, after all, came from his class.  If you graduated, you were ready.  Some might consider Iruka overprotective, but he was just trying to make sure his children made it to see their own kids, if they wanted them.  Ninja life was never easy.  

But now, it didn’t matter.  All his children were dead.  It was strange to see their cold and broken bodies spread across the last battlefield of the Allied Ninja Nations and the Land of Iron.  Especially Naruto.  One wasn’t supposed to have favorite kids, but he did.  Naruto didn’t exactly have anyone else to look after him.  And now, it didn’t matter.  The world had claimed all his kids.  There was nothing left for him here.  

The Rookie 9, as they’d been called, had perished.  Konoha was gone.  Kakashi and the Hokage were dead.  It was time to pull out the old Umino clan secrets.  While Uminos might not be as revered as the Uzumaki, especially when it came to sealing jutsus, they made up for it by the sheer eclecticism of the jutsus and seals they knew.

The Uminos weren’t really supposed to use their clan’s collection, since their jutsus were an odd mishmash, most of which were forbidden by civilized ninja villages.  But there were none of those left, just former ninja villages.  No more Village Hidden in the Clouds, or Leaf, or Rock, or even Sound.  Just death, destruction, and perhaps a burning husk if the village was lucky.  

The scrolls were long gone, destroyed with Konoha.  But he’d learned them before his parents died and he still remembered them perfectly. The Uminos had very good memories.

The Uminos had many justus and seals, the last count being in the hundreds.  Of them all, only two of the jutsu directly dealt with time manipulation but both required a great deal more chakra than Iruka ever had, or even could ever have.  He had excellent control, but he lacked the brute power.  What he wouldn’t do to have Naruto here.  Though if even Naruto had survived, it was possible his situation wouldn’t be so desperate.

Sealing wasn’t a strong suit of his, but his hand was steady as he applied seals to his chakra coils.  Either he’d kill himself or it’d work, and he wouldn’t mind either outcome.  As it was, he was forcing open his chakra coils, allowing himself to access natural chakra.  As a lone ninja, he wasn’t the easiest to find.  He gave himself a couple hours, carving seals into the woods around him.  He was tying himself to the land.  There was a specific way to do this, he had to be very precise, as making even one slight mistake didn’t bear thinking about.  

The black ink slowly faded into his skin as the sun set, and he took a deep breath, relaxing as he felt the life leach out of the forest around him.  The sudden chakra surge would draw attention, but he was banking on that.

“Hello,”  he greeted calmly when he felt the malevolent chakra of the juubi while sitting in the middle of his seal, nearly naked.  Even his signature hitai-ate was gone.  Though his village had been destroyed, he had still worn his hitai-ate proudly until this moment.

“I see the survivors of the garbage heap known as Konoha are getting stupider,” the great juubi rumbled, staring down at Iruka.  He was nothing more than a pinprick to the great beast.

“Or perhaps,” Iruka said calmly, “they are finally ready.”

“For what, insignificant speck?”  The juubi stepped forward, a giant paw headed towards Iruka.  Calmly, the man closed his eyes and started his hand seals.   There was a giant roar, and then there was nothing.

There was a part of Iruka that hadn’t really been expecting to wake up, well aware of how crazy his plan was.  There was nothing that said his plan would work. After all, no one had ever tested these jutsus before.


End file.
